[CLOSED] Time intrudes on the new morning I finally found-

[mayovice]

Characters: Hijikata Toshirou & Katsura Kotaro [mayovice & notabomber]
Content: Hijikata and Zura Katsura find their lives linked by the strangest things imaginable. Of course, they both find it very hard to accept that this even happens.
Setting: A ramen shop somewhere in Bellcius.
Time: During the timeskip... somwhere in April or something or I guess.
Warnings:

Comments

[notabomber]

Normally, Katsura made his meals himself, at them with only Elizabeth for company, and scoffed at the sort of people who squandered money on frivolous things like ramen restaurants.

Having someone attempt to cleave you in two with a rather sinister weapon, for rather sinister reasons, tended to make cooking for oneself rather challenging, unfortunately. Katsura wasn't sure what annoyed him more about the incident--the fact that the bastard had left him with such a bothersome injury, or the fact that he'd cut off his hair as a trophy. Honestly, even in the world of 'paid assassins who did unsporting things like attacking from behind' that was low. What did he think he was going to do with it? Make calligraphy brushes commemorating the (failed) assassination? He didn't want to think about it

[notabomber]

"She was a gift to me from an important friend," he replied huffily. "Of course I take good care of her. To do otherwise would be shameful of me." Really, Hijikata was hardly one to talk. The man couldn't even keep track of his pets most of the time, it seemed.

[mayovice]

"Tch." Well, he really couldn't say anything about that, as much as he wanted to. Especially since Hijikata was finally starting to pay more attention to Lucied and Chi - not that he'd admit that to anyone anytime soon. Helping himself to another mouthful of food, the man gulped it down and then spoke up again. "Just don't do any funny stuff with her and I won't cut you down in this place."

[notabomber]

"Not that I intend to do any 'funny stuff,'" he replied, though there was an undeniable blush on the man's cheeks, "but why do you care? Are you plotting something deviant yourself?" That last part was uttered in a significantly more suspicious tone. "I won't stand for it."

[mayovice]

A vein made itself known at the base of his temple at those rather accusatory words, but Hijikata managed to keep his cool before it exploded - it wasn't as if the idiot would ever know about Ikumatsu's past, after all. Still, what the hell did the man think he was?! He wasn't some pervert who wasted his time looking at women! Not that he was even interested in doing that, ever - the concept of women and relationships were pretty much lost on him.

"Unlike some people, I don't go around wasting my time plotting doing 'devious things' to women," Hijikata responded with an air of irritation. "I have better things to do than that." Besides, she was much more like a mother to him rather than anything else, and he couldn't see her in any other way.

[notabomber]

'Some people' clearly did not apply to Katsura. Although he did have to admit that there were 'some people' who did things like that. Katsura didn't think very highly of those sorts of people.

"So you're just here to pervert her cooking with your mayonnaise obsession? Is that it? You're just a pervert for mayonnaise?"

[mayovice]

Hijikata's reaction to that was of course, notably instantaneous. The vein throbbed unhealthily at its place as the younger man turned to direct a glare towards the other, voice low while he retorted back in return. "Don't you bring mayonnaise into this, you tasteless asshole." Mayonnaise didn't even have anything to do with this - and who was he to judge the goodness of mayonnaise, anyway?! The idiot just didn't know what greatness clearly was.

[notabomber]

"Has it occurred to you," he replied, rather calm in the face of Hijikata's wrath, "that when nearly every person around you finds your eating habits abhorrent, that perhaps you're the one with no taste?" Granted, he personally was rather fond of soba, but not the the point where he insisted on putting buckwheat noodles in his tea. There were limits, and Hijikata had surpassed them by leaps and bounds. "Condiments are meant to compliment a meal, not drown it."

[mayovice]

"They just don't know the greatness of mayonnaise," the man instantly shot back, vein still pulsing and Hijikata himself looking rather dangerous and irritated. Damnit, how many times did he need to say it already?! Everyone just never appreciated the greatness of mayonnaise. They were the ones who lacked taste, for never appreciating just how good mayonnaise actually was. If he could, he would have had all of them go commit seppuku for being against such greatness.

[notabomber]

"Tch." There was really nothing more pathetic than a man who could not see the depths of his own delusion. Katsura shook his sadly and sat back down at his seat. Clearly, there was nothing else he could say to someone whose brain had so clearly been corrupted by mayonnaise.

[mayovice]

"Tch." Well, that was that then - no use talking to a guy who was clearly lacking in proper, refined taste. Hijikata made an annoyed snort as he settled back down properly onto his seat, going back to eating his meal peacefully as Ikumatsu (who had been listening into everything and laughed at them both) reappeared from the kitchen, bowl of soba in hand.

"One bowl of soba, as usual," the woman went with a smile as she placed the bowl in front of the elder man. "Please, do enjoy."

[notabomber]

"Thank you, Ikumatsu-dono," he replied, smiling a little shyly at the woman. The way she managed to make him feel like an awkward teenager was a little embarrassing, really, but he couldn't help it.

[mayovice]

The small smile on her face widened by a fraction at that. "Not a problem at all, Katsura-san," she said before turning around and now going towards where Hijikata was currently glowering and munching rather voraciously on his rice. The look on her face betrayed the amusement she felt about this whole thing as he spoke to the younger man. "Young Master, would you like another bowl? You seem quite hungry."

Hijikata gave a moment to eat his rice and mayonnaise with absolute irritation, one eye on the idiot as he finished up the last of his bowl and placed it before the woman, grunting an acknowledgement. Ikumatsu smiled yet again upon seeing that.

"Coming right up then," she went as she picked up the bowl and headed towards the kitchen once more to do just that.

[notabomber]

Katsura turned to his soba, choosing to ignore the other man for the time being. Watching him wouldn't be any good for his digestion, he was sure, as piqued as his curiosity might have been as to how, exactly, he knew Ikumatsu and why that might lead her to call him by that particular epithet.

[mayovice]

While he waited for his second bowl to arrive, Hijikata busied himself with taking a few more drags of his cigarette, burning through it much quicker then he would have liked mainly because he was still quite irritated about this whole thing between Ikumatsu and the asshole a few seats besides him. Seriously, just how much did life want to mock him?

By the time the woman had reappeared from the kitchen, the younger man was long done with his cigarette and doing his best not to send pointed glares towards Katsura's general direction. Once again, Ikumatsu could only be amused at the actions of her (former) charge as she placed the bowl of rice and slathered mayonnaise before him. "Another usual, as requested. This one's on the house."

[notabomber]

...there was really only so long that Katsura could behave himself, really. The urge to needled the other man was simply too great.

"You know," he commented casually, still not daring to look at Hijikata and by extension, what the man was shoving into his face, "you could eat that sort of thing at home. Why come someplace and then insult the skills of the cook by eating that?"